


Some one to take care of you (Pre-Apocalypse)

by twdeadfanfic



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-08 00:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17376068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twdeadfanfic/pseuds/twdeadfanfic
Summary: This was a Request in Tumblr: Reader is sick and Daryl takes care of her, short, fluff, pre-apocalypse.





	Some one to take care of you (Pre-Apocalypse)

**Author's Note:**

> There are some hints to Daryl & Reader backstory, but without details. I do have some ideas in mind, so if you would be interested in reading more about this pre-apocalypse world thing, about how those two met,about their past and also their future, let me know and I might eventually write more.

A coughing fit woke you up, making all your body ache. You tried to open your eyes but they felt heavy, and when you finally managed to open them you felt so dizzy you thought you were going to faint, your head feeling like it was about to explode. You felt like you were burning but shivering at the same time.

No, it couldn’t be, you couldn’t be sick, not now.

Groaning, you got up and slowly walked towards the cabinet where you kept the thermometer, your head thumping so much you could barely keep your eyes open. You almost fell asleep on your feet waiting for the thermometer to beep, and when it did you shook it as if that could change the fact that you had a high temperature.

Great. It was your first week at your new job and you got sick. Great timing. After years of working morning shifts as a cashier in a supermarket and night shifts at a bar, you had managed to land a job in a café-restaurant with better shifts. And you might have to call sick after just a couple of days. Wonderful.

You thought about just toughing it out and go to work, but every time you moved the room seemed to move with you, spinning out of control, and your bones and muscles felt like burning. If you went to work, you might very well end up fainting on a customer.

You were shivering hard and you took one of the blankets from your bed, wrapping it tightly around you, and you headed to the living room to call sick. Your voice was so hoarse it embarrassed you, your throat felt like full of needles every time you spoke or swallowed, but after apologizing profusely, your boss told you to take the day off.

You went to the kitchen and took some pills that you still had from the last time you got sick, years ago, and swallowed them with a sip of water, wincing at how it made your throat ache. You poured some water into your kettle and turned it on, already throwing a couple of tea bags into it to speed up the process, not caring that much about the taste.

Your head kept spinning so you went to sit down on the sofa, where you could keep an eye on the kettle, to wait for it to be ready. You curled up with your blanket, closing your eyes, hoping it would make your head stop spinning, and waiting for the water to boil. You must have fallen asleep, though, because the next time you woke up it was to the bell of your door ringing.

“Go away.” You muttered, groaning, still half asleep, but the bell kept ringing insistently. You opened your eyes, finally waking up, confused. You didn’t even know how much time had passed. You were tempted to just ignore the door but it rang again.

You got up, blanket tightly wrapped around you, and tried to ignore how the room seemed to move with you. You opened the door and found Daryl Dixon standing there. It wasn’t that much of a surprise, not that you knew many people, if it wasn’t someone trying to sell you something, then it had to be Daryl. Not that he visited much unannounced, though, no matter you had been friends for a long time now…almost as long as the time it took you to become his friend.

“Woah, you look shitty.” Was his greeting.

“I feel shitty.” You grumbled, turning around to go back to the sofa and flopping down onto it.

“You’re sick,” Daryl said as he sat down at the other end of the sofa, looking at you as you tried to turn yourself into a human burrito with your blanket.

“No shit.” You snorted grumpily, the illness making you grumpy, but you regretted it. “Sorry, just…everything hurts.” Daryl just hummed.  “What’re you doing here?”

“I walked past that new place you said you were working on now, you weren’t there. Came to see if you were alright.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, but for you it was. You felt less alone in the world since you had him as your friend, he was always checking on you to make sure you were alright and lending you a helping hand when you needed it, though he didn’t like it when you mentioned it, so you usually didn’t.

“Well, I’m not.” You exaggerated a pout. “But thank you for coming to check, appreciated.” You closed your eyes, leaning back. “It’s like the world won’t stop spinning and my throat is burning….” You complained and Daryl just hummed again, he didn’t seem to be feeling talkative today, not that you minded it, you were used to it. Sometimes he felt like talking, sometimes he didn’t. “This is going to sound so stupid, but I really, really miss my mum when I’m sick.”

You opened an eye to look at Daryl. He was watching you and you’d have felt self-conscious about how bad you probably looked, but you had known him for long enough. “Can you do me a favor?” He nodded. “I have a kettle with some tea, can you heat it again, please?”

Daryl nodded again, getting up, and you heard him fumbling in the kitchen, but your eyes closed again. You opened them when the sofa dipped again and Daryl passed you a mug with steaming tea.

“You could have poured yourself another one, you know?” You rolled your eyes and sipped your hot tea. It helped you soothe your throat a bit.

“How’s the new job?” Daryl asked you after you finished half the mug.

“It’s good. The schedule is fine, still a lot of hours but better than working two jobs.” Salary was better too, but money was tight anyway. “The people’s nice.  I don’t know, it’s fine.” Not a dream job, but it wasn’t bad.

Daryl nodded. “Merle’s gonna wonder where you are when he comes back and you’re not at the bar.”

You snorted. That bar was where you had met the Dixons, when you started working there. You knew them before, by name at least, they had a reputation in town, but you hadn’t really met them, and it was in that bar where you really got to know the brothers, or at least Daryl. You smirked, if you kept thinking like that you might end up missing that shitty place.

“Is he coming back soon?”

“I think so but I’m not sure.”

You didn’t say anything, you thought Daryl was better off when his brother wasn’t there, but you weren’t going to say it, knowing it’d make Daryl angry. Whenever Merle was around, Daryl would tail along with him everywhere, doing what he was told, under the shadow of his brother. For someone like Daryl, who didn’t take shit from anyone, so independent, you couldn’t understand why he was like that with Merle. It was a complicated relationship, the one those two had.

“Why don’t you go to bed?” Daryl’s voice took you out of your thoughts and you opened your eyes, you weren’t sure if you had fallen asleep again for a minute.

“Nah, I’m fine here…though you probably have something better to do, sorry.” You gave him an apologetic smile. “Thanks for coming to check.”

“Not really…don’t mind staying here.” Daryl said quietly, looking at the floor.

“Thanks.” You smiled weakly, closing your eyes again but trying not to fall asleep. You tried to think for something to talk about, not wanting Daryl to get bored, though your throat hurt when you talked. “Hey, you were working on that new garage yesterday, right? Sorry, I wanted to call you but I just…work.” Daryl was always checking on you and you felt ashamed you hadn’t checked on him to ask him about the new job, but between getting used to the new job and beginning to feel ill, you had been exhausted and with barely any free time.

“’was okay.”

“Thank you for all those amazing details.” You laughed quietly, wincing as it made you hurt. “Do you know if it was just a temporal thing or are they calling you more times?”

“Dunno…they might call again sometime if they need it.” Daryl shrugged.

“Good.” You smiled, though if Merle came back then you weren’t sure that was going to work, with Daryl letting his brother drag him in whatever questionable business he had in mind that time. “Did you like it?”

“Told you, it was okay.” He mumbled.

“Aw, Daryl, come on, tell me about it.” You complained, nudging him with your foot, shifting to lie down on the sofa with your legs over his. “I’m sick and I’m bored, I deserve it, tell me.”

Daryl rolled his eyes but gave you a small smile. “Okay.”

As he talked you couldn’t help but close your eyes again, feeling weak and more and more sleepy, until you couldn’t stay awake for longer. Next time you woke up was to the world spinning again and you realized Daryl was carrying you.

“What?” It was the only coherent thing you could mutter as Daryl lowered you onto the bed.

“You’re burning, you have to rest.” He tucked you in. “I’m going out but I’ll be back.”

“Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you, I’m sorry.” You apologized as you curled up with your blankets. “See you tomorrow, okay?” You murmured, almost falling back asleep already.

“Told you I’ll be back, can I have your keys? Don’t want to wake you.”

“Yeah, sure, on the table.” You managed to reply before falling asleep.

*

You didn’t wake up when Daryl came back, didn’t even hear your door opening and closing, or him fumbling in the kitchen, but you stirred awake when you felt his hand on your forehead. “That feels good.” You murmured, half asleep, leaning into his hand, his touch calming cold against your hot forehead, but he pulled away.

“You have to take this.” You heard what you assumed was the bottle of pills dropping on the nightstand table. “And eat. Come on.” You opened your eyes and found him standing in front of you with a bowl of stew.

“Aw, you made me soup.” You sat up against the headboard, wondering how you could still feel so sleepy and reaching out to take the bowl. “That’s sweet.”

“Stop it,” Daryl grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Why didn’t you make you some too? You gotta eat.” You chided him.

“I’m fine.”

“No, come on, take a spoon and eat with me.”

Daryl knew there was no point on fighting you on that, so he left, coming back with a bowl for himself and you smiled, knowing that probably you had a big pot of soup sitting in your kitchen.

“Thank you. Have I told you how good is your cooking?” You knew fully well Daryl would turn all blushed and flustered, and grumpy at that, but you enjoyed it.

“Every time I cook.” He grumbled, sitting down at the other side of the bed.

It wasn’t the first time he cooked for you, he had done it before on days when you had barely any time to go from one job to the other, stressed out and barely eating at all, and that’s how you had ended up trying things you had never before, like squirrel or even snake. Sometimes he just showed up at your door to give you one of the squirrels or rabbits he had hunted. It had been a bit strange at first, but you really appreciated it. It was another way he had of checking on you, and you were grateful for it.

“Well, you’re good at it.” You shrugged, eating another spoonful of the stew. “What is it made of?”

“Rabbit.”

“I thought that when you’re sick you’re supposed to eat chicken soup.” You joked.

“Didn’t have chickens on hand,” Daryl smirked.

“This is perfect, thank you.”

“Ain’t nothing.” Daryl looked away from you, shyly.

It was not nothing for you. You finished your soup, drinking every last bit, and Daryl brought you more tea so you could take the pills with it. Once you had eaten and drank, you shifted to lie down on the bed again. Daryl was sat down against the headboard again and you looked at him with tired eyes but a grateful smile. You hadn’t had someone taking care of you in so, so long, you felt your heart filling with gratitude and warmth as you looked at him before your eyes began closing again.

“I’ve been sleeping all the time, how can I still feel sleepy.” You complained, you still felt like you were in a haze, barely managing to keep your eyes open. You shifted until you could rest your head on his leg, feeling him stiff.

“What you doing?” He grumbled, trying to move away from you but without pushing you off him, courtesy of you being sick you guessed.

“Cuddling.” You curled up, head still on his thigh, determined not to let him pull away. “I’m sick and I feel shitty, and I’m weak. I deserve it. Please?”

Daryl said nothing but he stopped trying to pull away, though you could still felt him all stiff and awkward. You smiled softly, eyes closed. No matter what, and for how long you had been friends, he’d always be like that whenever you hugged him, or try to cuddle with him, or anything like that, until he let himself relax into enjoying it sometimes. It was cute in a way. You felt him rest a hand on your arm carefully and your smile widened.

“Tell me about something.” You asked him.

“About what?”

“Just anything.”

“Don’t know what.” He grumbled.

“Anything…about when you were a kid maybe?” You said without thinking it much, you just wanted to hear his voice instead of the silence, and he stiffened again.

“Ain’t nothing good to talk about.”

“Sorry, bad question.” You apologized. You still didn’t know that much about Daryl’s life before you knew him…hell, you even didn’t know much about his life at all, and he was pretty much your only friend. He didn’t like talking about it, and with the tiny little bits that you had gotten out of him during all this time, you had put together his childhood has been worse than an unhappy one. You didn’t want Daryl thinking about it even though you wanted to know more about him.

“Tell me a story, then.”

“A story?” You swore you could hear him frowning.

“Yes, the story of that mighty night at the bar when your brother hit on that girl, I don’t know who she was, and he kept trying until she threw a glass to his face. It was like…awesome. Scary, but awesome.” You heard Daryl’s chuckling and you laughed too, wincing as it turned into a coughing fit. Daryl’s hand on your arm shifted to gently hold your shoulder at that, rubbing it gingerly until you could breathe properly again. “Thanks…anyway, I still think about it sometimes, I want to be like that girl.”

“You ain’t bad yourself.”

You opened your eyes and shifted to look at him at that. “Careful Dixon, that almost sounded like a compliment.” You teased, smiling, and Daryl looked away from you, blushed.

“I mean, you did threaten that idiot guy with a knife.” He said, still not looking at you. “He didn’t come back.”

“Oh, yeah, true.” You laughed, wincing again. “But you had already almost broken his nose before, so it wasn’t all on me, teamwork.” Daryl snorted at that, finally looking back at you, smiling.

“I reckon you threatened me with that same knife too.”

“Yes, I did.” You laughed enough to have another coughing fit. You didn’t really know Daryl back then, in fact you would say that moment had been one of the first times you both had talked.

“You were cute.”

Your eyes snapped open to look at him, but Daryl was looking anywhere but at you, his cheeks red. He wasn’t one to pay compliments and you didn’t think he’d ever told you something like that, but you didn’t want to make him more awkward so you didn’t push it while you also tried to ignore those twirls that you were feeling in your stomach.

“Cute isn’t really what I go for when I threaten someone with a knife.”

Daryl just shrugged at your words.

“Anyway…tell me about that night…” You tried to cut through the awkwardness. For a moment Daryl said nothing but then he began talking, retelling the events of that night, and eventually you fell asleep again.

Next time you woke up, the room was dark and Daryl was shifting you to lie down on the pillows again. “Sorry, this must have been like the most boring day of your life.” You mumbled.

“Nah.” You heard Daryl right before you fell asleep again.

You woke up in just a few minutes to his hand shaking you awake carefully. You groaned, trying to pull free and curling up with your back to him, but he didn’t let you.

“Y/N, come on, you gotta eat.” He flicked on the light at your nightstand and shook you again.

“Don’t want to.” You whined. “Just want to sleep, I’m just so tired.”

“No, come on.” Daryl kept pulling at you until you sat up, lying against the headboard. He sat down facing you, bowl of soup and spoon on hand.

“Are you going to spoon feed me?” The idea amused you as much as it embarrassed you.

“If you’re not gonna eat yourself.” He shrugged.

“That would be too embarrassing, give me that.” You took the bowl from his hands and eat in silence. “Happy?” You leaned over to place the bowl on the nightstand table when you finished it.

“Not yet.” He passed you one of the pills and a glass of water that you took without any complaint.

“Happy now?”

Daryl hummed a yes and you lied down again, curling up.  “Sleep.” Daryl tucked you in and threw yet another blanket over you for good measure, the one you kept on your sofa. You closed your eyes, starting to fall asleep again no matter you had been asleep for almost the whole day. You felt Daryl getting up and you reached out without opening your eyes until you grasped his wrist, stopping him.

“Daryl.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

Daryl said nothing and you let go of his wrist so he could leave. After a minute, though, you felt his fingers softly brushing your hair away from your forehead before he pressed a gentle kiss onto it, right before you fell asleep, smile on your face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! If you have time, please drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts about this! I’m nervous about writing pre-apocalypse Daryl, I hope I didn’t mess it up. Would you like to see more?
> 
> As always, English is not my first language so sorry if there are mistaques.


End file.
